{"id":9942,"date":"2025-06-04T06:48:09","date_gmt":"2025-06-04T06:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/news\/?p=9942"},"modified":"2025-06-04T07:17:34","modified_gmt":"2025-06-04T07:17:34","slug":"controversy-at-messis-childhood-club-newells-suspends-kids-for-photo-with-rival-player","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/news\/controversy-at-messis-childhood-club-newells-suspends-kids-for-photo-with-rival-player","title":{"rendered":"Controversy at Messi\u2019s Childhood Club: Newell&#8217;s Suspends Kids for Photo with Rival Player"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/en-us\/football\/team\/newell's-old-boys-877\">Newell\u2019s Old Boys<\/a>, the Argentine club where <a href=\"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/en-us\/football\/player\/lionel-messi-874\">Lionel Messi<\/a> began his football journey, is at the center of a heated controversy after suspending a group of nine-year-old academy players. Their offense? Posing for a photo with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/en-us\/football\/player\/ignacio-malcorra-13641\">Ignacio Malcorra<\/a>, a standout player from fierce local rivals <a href=\"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/en-us\/football\/team\/rosario-central-875\">Rosario Central<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The incident took place during a youth tournament in Funes. After spotting Malcorra, the kids, thrilled to see a professional footballer, snapped a photo with him, accompanied by their parents. The image soon circulated on social media, stirring backlash among Newell\u2019s fans who saw it as an act of disloyalty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"es\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Rosario?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#Rosario<\/a> | Medida controvertida ?: <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Newells?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#Newells<\/a> suspendi\u00f3 a seis ni\u00f1os de 9 a\u00f1os tras sacarse una foto con Malcorra para &quot;sentar un precedente&quot;?<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/8XaEpSWtyn\">https:\/\/t.co\/8XaEpSWtyn<\/a><\/p>&mdash; doble amarilla \u2b50\ufe0f\u2b50\ufe0f\u2b50\ufe0f (@okdobleamarilla) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/okdobleamarilla\/status\/1929913074208641254?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">June 3, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<p>In response, the club handed the young players a three-month suspension from training. Club president Ignacio Astore defended the decision, saying it was made jointly with the children\u2019s parents to protect them from potential bullying or criticism. \u201cIt\u2019s about shielding the kids,\u201d Astore explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Carlos Panciroli, who runs the Malvinas Argentinas football school where the boys play, also weighed in. He emphasized that the children themselves weren\u2019t to blame, but said the club needed to take internal measures to preserve its identity. &#8220;We can\u2019t allow this kind of situation while wearing Newell\u2019s colors,&#8221; he stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The decision has sparked national debate, especially given Newell\u2019s historic legacy as Lionel Messi\u2019s boyhood team. Critics argue the punishment is disproportionate, while others say it reinforces important values about representing the badge with pride.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/leo-messi-diegomaradona-SG-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\" Lionel Messi pays tribute for late Argentinian football legend Diego Maradona by revealing a Newell's Old Boys jersey \" class=\"wp-image-9943\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">(Photo by J. Bassa \/ AFP) (Photo by J. BASSA\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Either way, the scandal offers a glimpse into the passionate world of Argentine football rivalries \u2014 and the pressures that even the youngest players can face.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Newell\u2019s Old Boys, the Argentine club where Lionel Messi began his football journey, is at the center of a heated controversy after suspending a group of nine-year-old academy players. Their offense? Posing for a photo with Ignacio Malcorra, a standout player from fierce local rivals Rosario Central. The incident took place during a youth tournament &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":9944,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[266,1345,2468,159,1858,3432,3584,108],"class_list":["post-9942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soccer","tag-argentina","tag-inter-miami","tag-liga-profesional","tag-lionel-messi","tag-newells-old-boys","tag-rosario","tag-rosario-central","tag-soccer","article_type-news","article_type-seo","entity_type-athlete","inspiration-relevancy-trending"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9942"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9942\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}